Please read Google Shopping Free Listing, if you need guidance on this topic, the below is for Google Shopping Paid Ads.
A very simple question with multiple reasons, we will start with the most common and fundamental issues you might have with showing products on Google Shopping.
Before You Start
Before diving into an searching for potential causes of your problems, first ensure that your products are receiving impressions.
It’s worth noting that even if products have impressions in Google Ads, it’s not uncommon to be unable to see them visually in Google Search.
So if you have zero impressions, continue to read the most common issues below.
1) Google Shopping Products Not Visible In Non-Native Countries
As of the 3rd of October 2016, you can no longer view products from countries outside of your own. So, for example, if I’m in France and want to buy a product in the UK and want to use Google Shopping, then I will only see ads from France. Or, if you are in a country that does not support Google Shopping, then, in this case, you will see nothing.
I have explained in more detail about products not being visible on Google Shopping
You can find a full list of which countries Google Shopping supports.
If you do want to see a preview of ads outside your native country, check out this link: http://isearchfrom.com/
2) Your Account / Products Have Not Been Reviewed Yet.
Every account submitting a new data feed or setting up a new account will have an initial manual and automated review. This process can take up to 3 working days (not Saturday & Sunday). To check the status, you can log in to your Google Merchant Center account and click on Products > Diagnostics or Products > All Products if you want to view individual products.
The diagnostics panel shows a graph showing comprehensive data of approved, disapproved, under review, etc.
3) Some Or All Products Are In Violation Or Have Data Feed Errors
Check your diagnostics tab inside Google Merchant, you might find Errors and Warnings. Products > Diagnostics
Check your data feed, there might be crawling or import errors. Products > Feeds > Click on your feed > Processing
Data Feed Errors are issues that need to be fixed for the product to be considered for reviewing, not fixing this issue might result in an account suspension.
Warnings are issues that help improve the data feed quality.
4) Products Are Out Of Stock
While it may seem logical, only products that are in stock will appear on Google Shopping. Ensure your products are available if you want them to be advertised.
5) You Have Not Connected Google Merchant Center to Google Ads
Check your Google Merchant Center account if Google Ads is linked.
In the top right corner, click on the gear icon and Linked Accounts.
If your login email address for Google Merchant Center is the same as your Google Ads Account, then you will see your account number listed under Your Google Ads Account. Simply click on link.
If the login details are different, click on the blue plus button and enter your Google Ads account number. You can find this by logging into the Google Ads Account and copying the number in the top left or right corner.
6) You Have Not Created a Campaign
Look into your Google Ads campaign and see if you have a campaign. This can be a standard shopping campaign or Performance Max. If you do not see a shopping campaign then create a shopping campaign in Google Ads.
7) Bids Too Low or High ROAS Target
If you are manual bids, then these could be too low, I always recommend starting with $0.50 / £0.50 to ensure enough breathing room is established for the CPC, you may need to double this for luxury products or where competition is high.
If you are using ROAS bidding then it is recommended not to set your target too high, and maybe first choose maximize conversions.
8) Performance Max
If you are using performance max, make sure you have added your conversion tracking and remarketing tracking. Without these two data points, Performance Max will not work.
9) Standard Shopping
For those using traditional shopping campaigns, ensure that you haven’t incorporated negative keywords, implemented negative ad scheduling, negative device or set negative location bid modifiers. Additionally, verify that you haven’t appended an audience list set to “targeting” rather than “observation”. Remember, “targeting” restricts ads to existing users in the list, “observation” serves as a bid adjuster.
10) Low Budget
If your campaigns are underfunded (limited by budget), they won’t show at certain points of the day. If your daily budget run out by 4pm, you’re effectively sidelining any subsequent searches for the rest of the day.
This leads to missed opportunities in terms of impressions, clicks, and sales. Consequently, your data will predominantly represent the day’s first half, resulting in a biased view of user interactions.
In the “All campaigns” section, check the “Status” column. A red alert reading “Limited by budget” indicates that your Google Shopping ads aren’t being displayed as frequently as they could be.
11) Feed Quality
Titles and descriptions stand out as crucial components of your data feed. It’s important that the search terms are in sync with both the title and description. The significance of titles cannot be stressed enough, especially when it comes to rankings. Google showcases ads specifically for those search queries that match the product title and additional attributes outlined in the data feed.
Therefore, it’s essential to refine both title and description parameters.
While the title and description hold the most value, other attributes of your data feed such as image, product type, and Google product category also influence how your products are presented.
Improve your data feed quality by following the recommendations and requirements.
12) Landing Page Quality
You might find that the landing page experience score is very low on your products. Read the following article to check what the quality score is of your products for Google Shopping
13) You List Variants, But Are Missing Attributes
When adding variants, you need to have at least one of the following attributes filled in. If this is not added, you will not gain your full potential.
- Age Group
- Gender
- Color
- Material
- Pattern
- Size
14) Policy Issues In Ad Assets
With Performance Max campaigns, it’s crucial to ensure that the assets you create adhere to Google’s guidelines. I frequently find myself editing assets due to trademarked terms. Surprisingly, many common words are trademarked, leading Google to restrict their use. Always review the assets in your PMax campaign for any policy infringements, which you will see in 24 to 48 hours.
15) Payment Issues
Ensure that your account has no outstanding payment issues with Google Ads. Incomplete or outdated payment profiles can halt all your ad campaigns.
16) Low Search Volume
In conclusion, it might be that you’re using a search term with limited ad impressions. This suggests that if there aren’t sufficient users querying that keyword, or a lack of advertisers bidding on it, you might not observe any ads.
Tip
It is strongly recommended to use Google Ads data instead of visually looking for your products in Google Shopping. As this negatively affects your ranking. Want to know more, have a read on why searching for your ads is a bad idea.
Hi for some reason my products are not showing up when building the Google Ads campaign. My merchant feed doesn’t appear to have any issues but after selecting the Merchant Feed linked to the account, it asks me to select the country where my products will be sold, and all countries come up as “no products”. I have made sure the feed counts with my country but still no working. Any ideas?
This usually happens when you have not waited long enough. If the products are approved in Google Merchant Center, it can take a few hours before it’s available in Google Ads, try to wait at least 24 hours.
every thing is done as above mentioned but still products are not visible in the campaign … please help me to get rid of this issue
If the above article did not help, then a deeper analysis of both Google Merchant Center and Google Ads needs to be done. If you are interested in my help, please contact me [email protected]
Thanks for letting me those tips. But I still have errors on my list even though I make sure to follow tips. It’s really frustrated
If you still have issues listing your products, please contact [email protected] for personal help.
For point 10 – it would be good to understand this a little more. We are selling products via our website and on Amazon. We have a shopping feed setup from our website, but the products are not appearing. Could it be because we are also selling them on Amazon too?
Hello Squidgy, It’s a policy violation to have the same product advertised multiple times on Google Shopping. If you are targeting the US, you need to be aware that Amazon has started advertising. Having your own company list products and Amazon at the same time means you are taking an unfair advantage, which is a violation. You will notice point 10 is in effect if your account is suspended. I recommend starting with the basics, such as checking if your products are approved and that the titles describe the product accurately. Than ensure your Adwords campaign is correctly set up.
If you need any further help, please let me know.